Bothersome Spam

Everytime I check my email, the folder with the spam and junk mail gets bigger and bigger when the page refreshes. That is so irksome.

A friend of mine once described what his telemarketing job was like: "I call people up, but no one really wants to talk to telemarketers, so it feels that I all I did was disturb them."

Why don't marketers see that spam is the same thing? It's just junk that takes up space, and no one ever reads them anyway. Why bother still sending them?

Happy Birthday from UCSD

It was my birthday recently. Check out this email letter I get from the old alma mater:

"UCSD wishes you a HAPPY BIRTHDAY! As another year has passed so quickly, we would like to share some big changes that have happened on our campus.

This past fall, the UCSD community expanded on both undergraduate and graduate levels to include students for the new Sixth College and the School of Pharmacy. Sixth College opened its doors to an entering freshman class of approximately 250 students. Sixth College features the Culture, Art, and Technology (CAT) sequence that integrates learning in the arts and humanities, social sciences, and science and engineering.

The new School of Pharmacy accepted its first class of 25 Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm. D.) students and plans to increase student enrollment at a steady rate of 60 students per class by 2005. The School of Pharmacy is a great addition to the health-sciences professional education offered here at UCSD.

We also anticipate the opening of the Graduate Management School, offering a Masters in Business Administration, in the Fall of 2004.

Now that we have shared a little bit of what has been going on here at UCSD, we would love to hear what you have been up to this past year. Please keep in touch by replying to this email or by clicking over to http://alumni.ucsd.edu/update/index.asp?millid=0100017344&name=XXXXXXX, or feel free to update us via our toll-free number at 1-888-UCSD-785.

We at UCSD hope you have an amazing year. Thank you and once again, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

External Relations
University of California, San Diego

Yeah. I was greatly moved that my university really wanted to wish me a heartfelt birthday.

*XXXXXXX=modified to protect ID

Paradox

I read this article and I'm puzzled. I first heard about the rape case when I read about it in the Japan Times back in June. A 19-year old woman was sexually assaulted in Okinawa by a U.S. serviceman. So many things went through my mind, from feminism, anger and hate for all men, sexist and cultural oppression, and international relations. As a woman, it sickens me when I hear and read about rape cases. It's violation, plain and simple. It's an act of violent aggression that cannot ever be justified. Unlike a murder case, the act of killing can be an act of unjustified rage, or it can be an act of self-defense. In a case that involves sex, the act is done by consent by two willing individuals. Rape is a violation of sexual rights and human rights. Raping a woman is the same as saying that a woman has no rights whatsoever. I immediately hated the man who could do such a thing, and I was even more disappointed when I learned that he was a U.S military serviceman, Lance Corporal Jose Torres of the Marines. 

There are many stereotypes of military personnel that describe them as having insatiable sexual needs. If you think about the history of military bases around the world, especially around Asia, prostitution rose where bases were founded: Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, and Japan. Areas like these only add to the stereotype of "horny sailors," and sexual interaction between individuals who have language barriers can be misinterpreted. Jose Torres did the opposite of breaking the "lusty military-man" stereotype; he only added to it. The residents of Okinawa already hate the presence of the military because of its long history of sexual assaults and other military accidents. Given these incidents, the relationship between the U.S. military and the Okinawans is highly sensitive, and Jose Torres only added more fuel to the fire. 

Many Americans are proud of the U.S. military. There are so many slogans about the pride of serving in the military. It advertises honor and perfection with its straight, clean cut image of soldiers. When I read about Jose Torres, I thought, "What a dishonor, what a disgrace." Not only that, he committed this act at a very crucial time: during the war on Iraq. Iraq and other non-supporters hate the U.S. and its military. They cry that American troops are evil. You think that American troops would watch their backs and watch their steps at a time like this, so that they don't make the U.S. look any worse than it is. American troops stationed out in foreign countries represent America, and it's the same for civilian travelers and tourists. When you step into another country, whether you want to or not, you represent your country and its culture. Someone is always going to ask about it. American troops are the same, but they have a heavier responsibility because they also represent the government. 

In the midst of war as the military is fighting Iraq, Jose Torres rapes a Japanese woman. Although it is the act of just one man, he represents the U.S. military and government, contributes to tarnishing stereotypes rather than maintaining a pristine image, violates a woman's human and sexual rights, breaks laws in another country... and people wonder why the U.S. is the most hated country in the world? Just because the U.S. is the most powerful country in the world does not mean its individual soldiers should exercise that power freely by breaking laws in foreign countries. It reeks of "imperialism" and cultural oppression. We hate the word "imperialism," but many people will read this as just that. What gives one man the right to rape a woman? Did it ever occur to him that he was breaking a law in another country? Did Jose Torres think that "I'm an American and I know my rights!" would bail him out of this? When you break a law in a foreign country, there is that strong possibility that you will be subject to that country's laws, no matter how much the U.S. might intervene. Did any one learn from Michael Fay's public caning in Singapore (and that was just for vandalism)? 

Japanese prosecutors are out to get Torres, and as much as I would love to see him get tried in the hands of the Japanese justice system, I don't fully trust the hypocrisy of the Japanese justice system. Japanese society is still primitive with its male dominant ideas. Sexual assaults are blamed primarily on the victim and the suspect serves only a light punishment that most victims describe as nothing more than a "slap on the wrist." If a Japanese man were to rape a Japanese woman, you never hear much about it because the victim is told that it was her fault. She is persuaded not to press charges and that she will learn to cope and move on with her life. As for their assailant, a light sentence and a pep talk. The Japanese are inconsistent when handling their own sexual assault cases that I find it hypocritical of them to suddenly want to prosecute Jose Torres with full force. I do hope that he will be discharged him from the military (without honor), and that he serves time in prison--whether in an American one or a Japanese one. All the better if it were a Japanese prison, so he will know how his rights have been violated. 

Read: Okinawa Nights

Military Misogyny 

Women Demand End to Military Violence 

US Troops in Okinawa 

Tons more of articles on Google.com, keywords: Okinawa, sexual assualts, U.S. military

Pop Culture as Cultural Literacy

According to E.D. Hirsch, "cultural literacy" is the basic foundation of knowledge that Americans should know in order to succeed in American cultural, both socially and professionally. I once read an article by him and he listed things that should be common knowledge if one was educated in the American school system. If you know these, then you are considered "culturally literate" in American culture and hold the key to succeeding in American society:

[looks into her old college reader]

1. Name the important events that happened during these years: 1066, 1492, 1776, 1861-1865, 1914-1918, and 1939-1945.

2. What is important about this year: 1984? (Hint: don't think of events, think of literature)

3. The meaning of these expressions or the origin of the quote:
-- Read between the lines.
-- Remember the Alamo!
-- Alas, poor Yorick...
-- All's well that ends well.
-- Beggars can't be choosers.

4. Defining words: bas-relief, aficionado, red tape, realpolitik, adagio, al fresco.

I used to proudly know all these things, but now that I haven't been in college for at least a year, nor have I seriously studied like I was a college sophomore, most of these things I have forgotten.

I write this because something struck me one evening as I was hanging out with friends. At this moment, I'd like to point out that many of my friends graduated college and have pursued professional careers. So, one evening, while drinking up beers and Smirnoffs, conversation topics varied from personal daily activities to TV episodes and pop music. Now, everyone has a different taste when it comes to watching television and listening to music, but I was surprised to discover that many of my friends can make references to the random everyday things, like television and music, and still maintain the fluidity of discussion and conversation as though it were a college lecture hall. Knowing the joke of a certain South Park or Seinfeld episode is just as important as knowing the politics of the California gubernatorial recall election, yet no one ever alluded to Hamlet or MacBeth and their similarities of characters usurping power.

Cultural literacy sounded good to me seven years ago, but I question its validity now that I am a teacher. Not only that, I found it to be pointless at times because then you just sound like a person with too-much-random-information-who-has-too-much-time-on-your-hands-so-you-read-up-on-random-American-historical-tidbits-so-you-can-sound-intelligent. I never liked watching TV too much, but it seems that knowing pop culture is just as important as knowing current events.

I better start watching the tube.

Perfectly In-Between

I took this Asian IQ test and I scored 50%. I guess that means I'm perfectly bicultural. ^_^

Wal-Mart: The State of America

Wal-Mart is becoming the shopping store of America. There are so many Wal-Marts in the country that some people protest its building or future construction sites. It's also become an icon of American living: goods at affordable prices for the middle class family.

I went shopping yesterday at Wal-Mart. Normally, I don't shop there because it gets crowded and chaotic with all the kids around, but I wanted to get some children's books, and books do get expensive, and since Wal-Mart was right next to Best Buy... why not?

I didn't buy any books. The book section was practically non-existent. It consisted of only two aisles, mostly of magazines, young adult, and tons of self-help books. Hmmm...

As I was leaving the store, I passed by the women's clothing section. Before I head back to Japan, I thought about stocking up on some clothes before leaving because I can never find my size there. The average waist size of women in Japan is 64cm (or 25in), so slacks are pretty slim there. As I browsed through the women's clothes, I was a bit shocked to find that I still could not find my size. It's not that everything was small-- it was all too big... and I mean BIG, for heavy set women.

In most stores, I find that average sizes overtake the floor, while plus sizes have a small section. It wasn't so at this particular Wal-Mart I went to: it was the other way around. When I looked at the advertisements around me, they were all heavy set women. The blouses were huge, like tents, and the pants were like balloons. I eyed the junior section, but I wanted something conservative, not T-shirts that bare my mid-riff and tight low-cut jeans that would expose me more than if I were naked.

Wal-Mart must really know their customers when they know what they're offering, but I wonder if this is the state of America: people who don't read unless they have a low self-esteem, and eating excessively to the point where the average size of women has gone from a size 10 to a size 14, and teenage girls dressing like miniature prostitutes-in-training.

I'm all for good health, and Americans hate the waif-thin models that adorn the pages of a magazine, but obesity is just as unhealthy. People need to lay off the sodas and potato chips.

And pick up a piece of literature or other book other than a self-help one. Self-help books only point out that one has low self-esteem.

And parents need to start watching their daughters. At Wal-Mart's affordable prices, girls can buy more of their clothes just by wearing them.

Absolutely Wrong

I heard the most awful thing today: Mariah Carey singing "Bringing On the Heartache" by Def Leppard.

She should be shot.